The Transport Department today (January 18) announced that the Lunar New Year auction of vehicle registration marks will be held on February 24 (Sunday), at Meeting Room S221, L2, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Wan Chai.

     "A total of 45 vehicle registration marks will be put up for public auction. Forty-three of them are traditional vehicle registration marks (TVRMs) and two of them are personalised vehicle registration marks (PVRMs). The list of marks has been posted at the department's website, www.td.gov.hk," a department spokesman said.

     People who wish to participate in the bidding at the auction should take note of the following important points:

(a) Successful bidders are required to produce the following documents for completion of registration and payment procedures immediately after the successful bidding:
(i) the identity document of the successful bidder;
(ii) the identity document of the purchaser if it is different from the successful bidder;
(iii) a copy of the certificate of incorporation if the purchaser is a body corporate; and
(iv) a crossed cheque made payable to "The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region" or "The Government of the HKSAR". Any bidders who wish to bid for both TVRMs and PVRMs should bring at least two crossed cheques for payment of auction prices. (For an auctioned mark paid for by cheque, the first three working days after the date of auction will be required for cheque clearance confirmation before processing of the application for mark assignment can be completed.) Successful bidders may also pay through the Easy Pay System (EPS), but are reminded to note the maximum transfer amount in the same day of the payment card. Payment by post-dated cheque, cash, credit card or other methods will not be accepted.

(b) Purchasers must make payment of the purchase price through EPS or by crossed cheque and complete the Memorandum of Sale of Registration Mark or the Memorandum of Sale of Personalised Vehicle Registration Mark immediately after the bidding. Subsequent alteration of the particulars in the Memorandum will not be permitted.

(c) A registration mark can only be assigned to a motor vehicle which is registered in the name of the purchaser. The Certificate of Incorporation must be produced immediately by the purchaser if a vehicle registration mark purchased is to be registered under the name of a body corporate.

(d) The display of a vehicle registration mark on a motor vehicle should be in compliance with the requirements stipulated in Schedule 4 to the Road Traffic (Registration and Licensing of Vehicles) Regulations.

(e) Any change to the arrangement of characters of a PVRM, including display in single row only as auctioned, will not be allowed.

(f) Special vehicle registration marks are non-transferable. Where the ownership of a motor vehicle with a special vehicle registration mark is transferred, the allocation of the special vehicle registration mark shall be cancelled.

(g) The purchaser shall, within 12 months after the date of auction, apply to the Commissioner for Transport for the vehicle registration mark to be assigned to a motor vehicle registered in the name of the purchaser. If the purchaser fails to assign the registration mark within 12 months, allocation of the registration mark will be cancelled and arranged for re-allocation in accordance with the statutory provision without prior notice to the purchaser.

     For other auction details, please refer to the "Guidance Notes – Auction of Vehicle Registration Marks" and "Guidance Notes – Auction of PVRMs", which can be downloaded from the department's website, www.td.gov.hk.

     The Transport Department (TD) today (January 18) reminded the public that to facilitate the commissioning of the Central-Wan Chai Bypass, the following temporary traffic arrangements will be implemented at a section of the Island Eastern Corridor (IEC) westbound near North Point this Sunday (January 20) at the time specified below:
 
From 1.30am to 5.30am on January 20
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     The IEC westbound between Independent Commission Against Corruption Headquarters Building to Henrietta Secondary School, the slip road connecting King's Road westbound near Healthy Street Central and the IEC westbound, the slip road connecting King's Road westbound near Tong Shui Road and the IEC westbound, the slip road connecting Tong Shui Road northbound and the IEC westbound, and Wharf Road eastbound between Provident Centre access road and Tong Shui Road will be temporarily closed to all vehicular traffic.
 
     Appropriate traffic signs will be erected on-site to guide motorists. Motorists are advised to drive with care. They may also consider using alternative routes.
 
     Details of the temporary traffic arrangements are now available on the department's website (www.td.gov.hk).

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     The Hospital Authority Board today (January 18) endorsed a one-off 10 per cent increase in the rate of the Special Honorarium Scheme (SHS) allowance with effect from January 28 to encourage staff members in different disciplines including doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, clerical and supporting staff to augment the manpower resources during the winter surge.
 
     The HA Chief Manager (Cluster Performance), Dr Ian Cheung, said public hospitals have been facing a huge service demand since January began. "In recent weeks, the accident and emergency department (AED) attendances have been consistently over 6,000, while the daily inpatient admissions to medical wards via AEDs are always above 1,000. Over 1,700 inpatient beds have now been added in public hospitals to meet the service demand."
 
     Dr Cheung anticipated that the service demand pressure will increase further, and that public hospitals will be even more congested after the Chinese New Year holiday. He said, "The HA has been actively recruiting more part-time and temporary staff to alleviate the work pressure of frontline staff. We hope that the increase in the SHS allowance will encourage more staff to join hands in meeting the challenge of this winter surge.
 
     "This adjustment of the rate of SHS allowance will take effect for 12 weeks and may be further extended subject to the service situation in public hospitals. I would like to take the opportunity to express my heartfelt thanks again to frontline colleagues for their dedication and commitment in taking care of our patients."

     Five-day statutory paternity leave came into force today (January 18).

     As stipulated in the Employment (Amendment) (No. 3) Ordinance 2018, for male employees with a child born on or after January 18, 2019, their paternity leave entitlement is five days for each confinement of their spouse/partner if they have been employed under a continuous contract and have notified their employers in accordance with the law.

     "If an employee wishes to take paternity leave, he must give proper notice to his employer. If the employee has already notified his employer of his intention to take paternity leave at least three months before the expected date of delivery of the child, he may take paternity leave immediately after informing his employer of the actual dates of leave. But if the employee fails to give the three months' advance notice to the employer, he must notify the employer of his dates of paternity leave at least five days before taking leave," a spokesperson for the Labour Department said.

     "During the transitional period, if an eligible employee has not given three months' advance notice to his employer of his intention to take paternity leave, even if he has notified his employer of his dates of paternity leave at least five days before taking leave before the commencement of the Amendment Ordinance (which in this case refers to the first three days of paternity leave), before taking the fourth and fifth days of the newly increased paternity leave, he would need to give at least five days' advance notice to his employer of the actual dates," the spokesperson added.

     For employers, employees and the public who wish to understand more about this revised statutory benefit, please visit the Labour Department webpage: www.labour.gov.hk/eng/news/EA(3)O2018.htm. For further enquiries, employers and employees may call 2717 1771 (the hotline is handled by 1823) or approach the branch offices of the Labour Relations Division.
 

     The Highways Department (HyD) today (January 18) invited tenders for "Provision of Universal Accessibility Facilities at Footbridges, Elevated Walkways and Subways – Package 3 Contract 1" (Contract No. HY/2018/11).

     The works are expected to commence in June 2019 and will take about 42 months to complete. The works will mainly include:

* construction of 11 lifts for five existing footbridges and one existing subway in six locations in Sha Tin, Tai Po, Tuen Mun and Tsuen Wan districts; and
* associated civil works, geotechnical works, electrical and mechanical works, modification works for existing structures, road and drainage works and landscaping works.

     The HyD has appointed Mannings (Asia) Consultants Limited as the consultant to design and supervise the construction works. Interested contractors can obtain the tender forms and other particulars from the office of Mannings (Asia) Consultants Limited at 5/F, Winning Commercial Building, 46-48 Hillwood Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

     The invitation to tender was gazetted today. Submission of tenders will close at noon on March 1, 2019 (Friday). Tender submissions should be placed in the Government Secretariat Tender Box located at the lobby of the Public Entrance on G/F, East Wing, Central Government Offices, 2 Tim Mei Avenue, Tamar, Hong Kong.

     For enquiries, please call the consultant at 3168 2028.